One Night With Kevin
by peetz5050
Summary: Someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Luckily Kevin Thompson was nearby to be able to help... Warning, contains violence and mature themes.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: __This is fanfiction, done for fun and no money is being made. Daria and related characters are the property of Glenn Eichler and MTV/Viacom._

_Warning: The following story contains mature themes, sexual violence and strong language. It also consists of a not inconsiderable amount of angst. If this is not your thing or you are easily offended please move along, nothing to see here._

* * *

CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS

* * *

**One Night With Kevin**

It was getting late but Kevin didn't want to go home yet. He was still buzzing from the home win and the big party afterwards. Just the right amount of beer was flowing through his system to keep him happy. He wondered if he should call one of the cheerleaders and invite her to go 'dancing' but he was honest enough with himself to know that he missed Brittany. Why'd she have to have the 'flu the night of the big game? He supposed it wasn't her fault but still...

The rest of the guys had taken off to Rex's for some 'stuff' but Kevin prided himself that he never did that ****. A few beers after a game and that was it. He was the QB! He led the team, ok Mack called the plays but on the field he was king and he wasn't going to let himself get caught in one of Principal Li's frequent piss tests and get booted off. No, not Kevin Thompson, not with State coming up in two weeks, he needed to keep his edge.

Still, no matter what time it was he knew he was too pumped to sleep so here he was walking down Dega Street at close to midnight, looking for some action... or at least a burger...

There were a few people still around, standing in groups outside the few bars and clubs or waiting for one of Lawndale's all-too-few taxis to rumble down the street looking for a fare. There was a queue outside the take-away across the street so Kevin figured he'd walk on out to the strip mall for pizza, at least he could sit down with it there. As he walked past the mouth of an alley he heard a familiar rhythmic thumping sound and smiled as he walked on, somebody was getting some action.

As he stepped up on the footpath he heard, barely, something that made him stop. Then he heard it again, it was a girls voice, pleading, sobbing, begging 'Pleashe shtop... pleashe... no...'

Kevin felt chilled, he stood perfectly still for he didn't know how long. _'Is this real? What do I do?'_

He shook himself and looked around frantically, there was no one else nearby, he thought about calling the people in the queue over the road but then realised no, he had to do something himself, right now. He tentatively stepped into the alley and called out 'Hey.' He heard himself and realised that came out as a squeak, Brittany could have done better. He swallowed and bulked himself up, wishing he had his shoulder pads instead of just a letterman jacket and in the deepest voice he could manage said 'Hey you, whaddya doin? Let her go.' As he approached and his eyes got used to the gloom he realised there were two guys and a girl, the girl was bent forward over the trunk of a car with her face being pressed into the metal by one guy while the other was behind her gripping her hips and...

Brown hair.

Green jacket, torn.

Orange t-shirt, torn.

White bra, ripped in two.

Black skirt, pushed up.

Brown eye, looking at him... at HIM...

Kevin's fists balled up automatically and he strode forward yelling 'Get offa her! Get away from her!'

The man stopped his thrusting and turned his head to look at Kevin... old guy, 40 maybe, tough looking, scarred cheek... dirty looking dark blond hair... ugly snarl when he said 'F*** off, kid, this is none o' yer business... private party... you're not invited... F*** OFF!'

Kevin stood his ground 'No way, let her go... I called the cops, they're coming.'

The man turned to the other guy and said 'Get ridda this ****head... I got her..'

The other guy let go of Daria's head and stood up straight. Kevin still couldn't see his face but he saw the gleam of a knife in his hand. Daria's head lolled to the side and Kevin saw blood pouring out of her mouth and nose. 'YOU BASTARDS!' he roared and got ready to fight, ripping the zipper open on his jacket and tearing it off his right arm, balling it up in his left to shield against the knife like he'd seen in a movie. Luck was with him then because the alley was lit by the reflected blue and red lights of a patrol car back in the street.

'****! It's the cops... let's go.' The second guy said, turning and running with a noticable limp up toward the other end of the alley. 'MOTHER******!' the first guy said as he swung Daria around and thrust her toward Kevin before running after his friend pulling his pants up as he ran.

Kevin just managed to catch her as she fell but as he tried to hold her she started beating his chest with her fists and mumbling 'Lemme go, lemme gooo, geh way fom meee... nooo...' He relaxed his grip and she fell to her knees clutching tightly at a cut on her lower belly, he realised her legs and hands were covered in blood and there was a lot of it on the ground around her already. He looked at the car and saw the trunk lid was covered in it. He blinked and backed away a couple of steps appalled at all the blood and the smell... The cops! Get the cops... They'll know what to do...

He turned and ran back to Dega Street. There was a patrol car stopped in the middle of the road and the two officers were giving some guys on the take-away queue a hard time and searching them for drugs. He didn't know what he was yelling as he ran over to them but they took one look at him and saw the blood on his clothes and immediately drew their weapons. 'OK sonny, calm down, what did ya do? Keep yer hands where I can see 'em.'

Pointing back to the alley and shaking like jello Kevin said 'Get an ambulance... girl... in the alley... two guys... it's Daria! Bleeding all over... GET AN AMBULANCE QUICK!'

'OK kid, show me.' The nearest cop said, holstering his Beretta and miming to his partner to get on the radio. Kevin led him into the alley and they followed the trail of blood behind a dumpster where Daria had dragged herself and was sitting with her back to the wall, her knees drawn up and her hands tightly clutching a wound in her abdomen through which both men could see blood seeping. She raised her head and squinted, trying to see without her glasses and barely audible whispered 'Lea' me 'lone... lea' me...'

The cop got down on his knees and moved forward slowly saying 'It's ok,it's ok... it's over now you're gonna be ok, we'll get ya to the hospital. Can ya tell me your name, Miss?' Daria just stared at him, blinking, and then without a word toppled over to the side and lay still.

'****, quick, help me get her out of here.' He caught her under her shoulders and grunted as he lifted her. Kevin caught her feet and helped as the cop carried her under a streetlamp and laid her down on her back. Kevin put his jacket under her head. Blood started to pump out of the wound in her belly and the cop said '****!' again and knelt to put pressure on the wound. He turned to Kevin and said 'Run out son and see where that ambulance is, if they don't stop that bleeding quick we're gonna lose her.'

'No, no, no' Kevin was shaking his head. 'She's in my class dude, she can't die... she's Daria! Say she's gonna be all right, say it!'

The cop stared at him for a moment. 'She's gonna be all right son, you're girlfriend's gonna be just fine... now run and get the paramedics up here, huh? Quick now.'

'But my girlfriend's not here... no... you got it... ambulance, right.' Kevin ran back to Dega Street again. The other cop was keeping rubber-neckers from trying to get into the alley. A couple of them recognized him and called out questions but he ignored them. With relief he heard the siren and saw the ambulance turn and come up the street the wrong way. He waved and pointed at the entrance of the alley and saw the driver nod and turn as the cop pushed the crowd back with his nightstick to clear a path. Kevin followed the few yards up to where the cop still knelt by Daria. The emt's quickly took over and within moments had an iv in her arm and a tube down her throat to feed her oxygen and were strapping a bandage on her belly. Two more cops had come up and were shining their flashlights around the alley. The first cop watched them for a short while and then came over to Kevin, rubbing his hands together to get some of the blood off of them.

'OK son... hey what's your name anyhow?'

'Kevin Thompson, sir, I'm the QB!'

'All right Kevin, I'm Sergeant Kendall, wanna tell me what happened here?'

As best he could Kevin filled the sergeant in on the events of the night.

'You weren't out with... Daria is it? Tonight?'

'No sir, she doesn't hang out with us jocks or popular people, she's a brain, she always stays with that weird art chick, Jane, they don't go to our parties... except this one time... but...'

'That's OK Kevin, I get the picture. Did you recognize either of these guys you saw?'

'No sir, they were strangers... I've never seen them around even, well, I mean... one of them... I didn't get a good look at the other guy, the one with the knife.'

'Would you be able to pick that one guy outta a line-up? Or describe him to our identikit artist?'

'What? I don't know what that is.'

'Would you know him again if you saw him? Could you describe him to an officer?'

'Yes sir, I'm pretty sure I would.'

'Good man! Will ya come down to the station with me and give a statement?'

'Sure thing, Sarge.'

Just then one of the emt's came over. They had just finished strapping Daria into a stretcher and were about to lift her into the ambulance. 'Don't suppose either of you guys saw her teeth? They can reseat them in the gums, sometimes.' Wordlessly Kevin pointed at a spat of red he'd noticed earlier, just by a pair of round black spectacles that had been trodden on. There were some whitish lumps in the blood. The technician bent and picked them up with tweezers and put them in a ziploc bag.

'You taking her to Cedars?' The cop asked.

'Yeah, here's her wallet, student I.D. says she's seventeen, wanna try and get in touch with her folks in case they need them at the hospital? To sign and stuff. We've got her insurance details so we don't need this.'

'Sure.' Kendall turned to Kevin and said 'Let's go.'

They were startled then by a girl screaming as she ran toward them from the other end of the alley and started wrestling with the other emt as she tried to get to the figure on the stretcher. A boy followed up more slowly, white faced and shocked, unsure of what was going on and how to react.

The sergeant went to help the emt, catching the girl from behind and pinning her arms. All the fight went out of her at once and she collapsed, bawling 'Daria!' over and over. The boy came up to her and tried to console her saying 'Jane, I think we should...' She turned on him savagely and, still with her arms pinned, started to kick at him yelling 'It's all your fault, issall your faul...' before collapsing again in tears.

The emt's hurriedly closed up the ambulance and drove off, sirens blaring. A few more cops came up from Dega Street, two female cops took Jane from the sergeant and tried to get her calmed down.

The sergeant turned to the new boy and asked 'What's that all about, son? You know anything that can help us?'

'No sir.' The boy replied, I just met Jane a half hour ago in the Zon, you know, the nightclub up there, we just hit it off and were talking. I think she might have had a bit of a fight with her friend, Jane wanted to stay til closing with me and her friend wanted to go home... so her friend took off on her own out the back door... what happened to her? Was it a car accident or...?'

'She was attacked... by two men...'

The boy looked around and saw the blood splashed here and there. 'Oh ****!' he said. He turned to the sergeant again and said 'I'm Tom Sloane, here's my I.D. I can't help here but I think I know someone who can help Jane, her brother's back at the club, can I...?'

'Yeah, good idea.'

Tom sped back in the direction of the club. Kendall came back to Kevin and said 'What you need to do now is have a good look around this alley, think about what happened, try to get it fixed in your mind, go over it in your head just in case you remember something, you know what I'm saying?'

Kevin nodded and tried to do what he'd been told. A few minutes later Tom returned with a taller, older, cool looking guy with a soul patch who wrapped Jane in his arms and held her close. He looked around at the cops and said 'Hey, anyone wanna tell me the score here?'

'You know a Daria?'

'Sure, Janey's friend, she was in the club earlier, I thought she went home, what happened?'

Kendall gestured at the bloodstained car, the whole scene now brightly lit by police spot lamps. 'She made it this far, there were two guys jumped her... Any strangers in the club tonight, you work there?'

'I'm in the band, man, there's always strangers there, you know? Didn't see anything different tonight. Daria... is she... will she...?'

'She was still alive when they took her to the hospital... but she lost a lotta blood... so...'

At this Jane stopped sobbing and stared at the sergeant, white face frozen in a mask of shock. Then her eyes rolled up in her head and she went limp in her brother's arms. Kendall went over and helped pick her up and carry her to one of the patrol cars. He called over an officer and said 'Take this girl and her brother to the hospital, she may be in shock. Kevin, come with me.'


	2. Chapter 2

**PART 2**

As they left the alley Kendall called over another officer. 'Scoop, I need you to go over to the address here on this I.D. I'd go myself but I look like a butcher. You'll have to wake up that girl's parents and drive them to the hospital, don't let them drive themselves... wait... Morgendorffer... is that the lawyer lady? Is her Mom a lawyer?' He turned and asked Kevin.

'Yes sir, I think so... I don't know her real well... her Dad likes football though.' He added with a goofy grin.

'Let me guess, Jake Morgendorffer, right?'

'Hey that's right, d'you know him?'

'In a way.'

'Is he a friend Sarge?' The other cop asked.

'Nah, I know him the way Snoopy knows the Red Baron... DO NOT LET HIM DRIVE.'

Kevin and the cop identified as Scoop looked at each other, both mystified as to what the Sarge meant. 'Sure Sarge... Hey Atkins! In the car, we're rolling.'

The cop who'd been with the Sarge at the start was busy putting crime scene tape across the mouth of the alley. Sarge yelled that he'd see him later and pointed Kevin to his patrol car and told him to take shotgun. This confused Kevin for a moment because there was a very large and very real shotgun in a mount between the two front seats. He figured Sarge must mean the seat so he sat in and put his belt on. He'd been in the back of a police car before a couple of times but never the front. It was packed with so much stuff it almost looked like an airplane. From all those movies he expected half-eaten doughnuts and spilled coffee stains but the whole cabin was spotless and everything stowed properly and neat as a pin.

Before he drove off a Mexican looking lady cop came up and tapped on the window. Sarge pushed the button to open it and raised an eyebrow at her. 'We maybe got a bit o' luck Sarge. I went knockin' on doors up the alley just in case and a little Chinese guy from the take-out was outside taking a smoke break earlier. He said he saw two men matching the description sitting in a piece o' **** rusty pickup truck parked up the alley 'bout an hour ago. He remembers them coz they were having some kinda argument. He didn't remember the license plate but he did remember that it said Garden State on it. He thinks it was a '79 crew cab, dark, maybe gray, hard to tell in the sodium lights, but it was missing a tailgate. I spoke to dispatch and they put the word out to State so we can hope they're running for home.'

'Good work Alvarez, something bothering you?'

'Yeah Sarge, somebody raped a schoolgirl in my town, I'm royally pissed! We gotta get these guys, I just hope I can make the arrest, I could save the county a ton o' money on court costs.'

'Just keep focused on your job.' Then quietly muttered to himself 'Stay on target.' The Sarge got on the radio as he drove off and had a conversation that sounded to Kevin like a bunch of letters and numbers. An hour later Kevin was sitting at a desk in the detective's section nursing a lukewarm cup of coffee and wearing a borrowed pair of track suit bottoms. This room did look like every cop station on every show on TV. Most of the desks were empty at this time of night but there about half a dozen people scattered around the room, typing on their computers or talking and one guy was obviously taking a nap. After a few minutes a big, middle aged African American man in an old but good tweed jacket came up with his own coffee and yes, a doughnut, and sat opposite Kevin.

'Evenin' Kevin, I'm Detective Sergeant O'Malley... what, you never heard of an Irish cop?' After a few seconds O'Malley realized his old ice-breaker joke had gone completely over Kevin's head and aimed his sights a little lower. 'OK Kevin, Sergeant Kendall has filled me in on the basics but why don't you tell me your story again, right from the top and don't leave anything out, no matter how trivial.' After a few more seconds looking at Kevin's expression he clarified 'No matter whether it seems important or not, even some tiny little thing can help us out so just say everything you can think of... starting with when you walked past the alley, we don't need to know about the game or the party you went to.'

'Hey I told the truth, man, I didn't leave nothing out, I told the Sarge everything...'

'Easy son, I know you're telling the truth. I just watched the security tape from the ATM across the street from the alley. We find sometimes in police work that if you go over what happened again something you forgot can just pop right up in your head, so please, from the start.'

Kevin told him what happened again, trying to remember and keep it to just facts. He found himself slowing down and getting a catch in his throat when he came to say about seeing it was Daria there, not just some girl he didn't know. He wasn't aware of the other detectives gathering around to listen, caught up as he was in the story. 'Something's bothering you there, son, best if you tell us.'

'Well Daria is a brain, you know? Wears glasses and no make-up or anything... doesn't party... so, like, why did they pick on her? Lotsa girls running around the clubs wearing little skirts and just... I dunno.. askin for... I mean then there's those girls by the park, they don't charge much... I mean.. I heard.. like.. I never... Why Daria?'

'With scum like that sometimes it's enough she was wearin' a skirt. Hell Scotchmen aren't safe with some o' them ex-cons.' The cops laughed but Kevin didn't get it, again. He smiled as if he understood but then came back to his question. 'Do you know why? She doesn't even date and I'm sure some of the geeks or nerds would go out with her, so... why'd they go after her?'

Turning serious again O'Malley gave him the best answer he could 'She just came out the wrong door, on the wrong night, in front of the wrongest sonza bitches we've had around here in a while. If she'd gone out the front door instead of the back she'd be sleeping at home in her own bed right now dreaming like a baby. What else can I tell ya Kevin? It was just pure dumb***t bad luck.'

Kevin thought about this for a while, still not able to figure why someone would hurt Daria, sure she had a smart mouth on her and he knew sometimes she made jokes he didn't understand but Kevin had known a lot of kids growing up who got into trouble or started trouble, in his experience when someone got physical there was a reason and though Daria always had a sharp comeback she never went looking for trouble, she never started it, she wasn't one of the assholes who came looking for Kevin to point out how stupid he was and laugh at him. It did not make sense. He looked at O'Malley who seemed to be happy to let Kevin go at his own speed. There was something else on Kevin's mind which was bothering him but he was a bit scared to mention it... but it was bothering him so he blurted out 'Mmnn, can I ask you something? Not as a cop but just as guy's?'  
O'Malley looked around his men, leaned forward and said, kindly 'Sure Kevin, what's on your mind?'

'Ehhh, like... is it weird or creepy or something... when I saw her there... with her skirt pushed up... is it wrong that just for a second I was thinking hey, she has a nice ass... Does that make me like them... those guys I mean?'

O'Malley sent a warning glare around his men, suppressing the laughter he knew was coming. 'Tell me Kevin, did you want to join in?'

'What! No way! My Dad... my Dad always says take it if it's offered coz you never know when it'll be your last but he ALWAYS says if it's not on offer you DO NOT TAKE. No means no. I couldn't... I mean I would never do that to ANY one, especially a girl in my class but not anyone...' He realized he was sweating and had raised his voice and balled his fists as he said all that... not a good move in a police station. O'Malley though was watching him with approval, he nodded at Kevin and said 'Sit back down son, you're not like them, you're a good kid, gonna be a good man make your Dad proud. If it helps I'd tell ya that I think it just means you're a guy. We don't see too many of that type o' bad boy here in Lawndale, couldn't tell you when we last had a rape case like this, it really is a nice place to raise your kids and we like to keep it that way. Look, go on with your statement, let's get this paperwork done, hmmn?'

Kevin continued to talk. One of the other detectives said 'That was pretty ballsy, standing up to two grown men like that, you're one brave dude.'

'I'm the QB!' He saw them look at each other like he just said something dumb again. They didn't get it, nobody seemed to get it. Kevin knew instinctively what he meant but it was always a struggle to put it into words. He HAD to make them understand. 'Look it's like, during the game tonight, I have the ball and a bit of space and Jamie's running up the left and Jeff's on the right and there's more guys on Jamie but he's farther up the field so I have this... short time, like a second... to make a choice and throw the ball to where I think they're gonna be...' They still weren't getting it. 'Anyway Oakwood have this linebacker, Coach swears he's a ringer, he's like six feet ten and three hundred pounds, and while I'm standing there with the ball he's coming for me like a truck... now if I start thinking about him I'll drop the ball and run away... but I can't do that, I'm the QB! It was like that.'

'Yeah but there was no ball, no way to score.'

'Sure there was... I had to make them stop hurting Daria!' He beamed at them, finally able to say what he meant. They looked at him with a lot more respect and one of them patted him on the back. 'Ya done good kid.' 'Yeah, well done.' 'All right!'

O'Malley cleared his throat to retake control of the conversation. 'You trying to be a hero, Kevin?' He asked.

'Sure I am, and when we win State I'll be as big a hero as Tommy Sherman, maybe they'll name the other goalpost after me!'

'I meant, were you trying to be a hero tonight in the alley?'

Kevin furrowed his brow, not understanding the question at all, what had tonight to do with winning the State Championships? 'Dude, I just had to help Daria...'

A little while later the cop from earlier, Alvarez, came in with a cd for the detective.  
'Got this from night security at a yard in the alley where they park service trucks fulla tools. He made me a copy of their infra red camera tape. It doesn't show much but it establishes a timeline.'

O'Malley put the disc in his computer and opened the avi file.

'Go forward to 11:47' Alvarez said.

Kevin watched the grainy black and white footage, nothing seemed to be happening, then, across the top of the screen where you could just see out through the bars of the gate, he saw a figure trudge by. It was unmistakably Daria to anyone who knew her. Walking slowly, arms crossed, head down. She was going toward the Wilson Street end of the alley. Everyone seemed to hold their breath for about a minute then in the space of less than a second Daria ran back across the screen toward Dega Street with two men close on her heels.

'If you scroll on about fifteen minutes you can see the two assholes run back up, one of 'em's limping so she musta gotten in a kick or two, good for her.' Alvarez said this last part with ferocity.

'Probably what got her stabbed... but you're right, good for her.' O'Malley added.

Some time and another cup of lousy coffee later and the Detective handed the printed out statement to Kevin. It took him nearly as long to read through it at his usual slow speed as it took to type it out. Then he signed the bottom. 'Do you know if Daria's gonna be OK? Have you heard from the hospital?'

'No, son, but in a way that's a good thing. See they're obliged by law to inform us if she dies... then this gets upgraded to a murder investigation... so we have hope, OK?'

'Yeah, I guess, thanks... What now sir, I mean... do I go home or what?'

'Yeah, you can go... if you hang on a bit I'll see if I can get uniforms to drop you home... ****, it's almost 4, shift change coming up. They come in, get briefed, then head out on patrol in mebbe half an hour, can you wait that long?'

'Sure. Will I wait here? I don't wanna be in the way or anything...'

'You look tired, there's a couch out in the lounge there, why don't you have a lie down? I'll call you.'

'Thanks.' Kevin went to the lounge, rinsed out his coffee cup and laid down on the couch. He didn't know how long he'd been there but he roused himself when he heard a commotion outside and went to see what was going on. O'Malley spotted him and called him over. 'Kevin, you're not going home just yet. We lucked out. State police caught two guys in a Ford pickup on the 95 heading North not far from the Susquehanna, sounds like our guys. They were dumb enough to point a shotgun at MDSP officers. We had a bit of jurisdictional argy-bargy but they've agreed to give them to us coz if we get a conviction they'll go away for a loonng time.' He turned to the room 'Guys, see if we can roust out enough heads for a line-up.' Several detectives left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**PART 3**

'They'll be here in about 45 minutes Kevin, d'ya wanna have another nap?'

'I don't think I could sleep now. Are you sure it's them?'

'Well, that's where you come in Kevin. You're the one who saw them commit the crime... Oh geez, just thought of something, you're in her class right, does that mean you're a minor as well?'

A bit shamefaced Kevin answered 'Actually no, I'm eighteen... I was held back and had to do Freshman year again... that's before I got on the team, I've been passing all my classes since then.'

'Oh, OK, that's good, we shoulda called your folks anyhow, would they be worried 'bout you?'

'No, I'm often out all night, specially after a game.'

'I hafta ask, are you OK with this? It's not just identifying them here, you're gonna have to be a witness in court, have their attorney call you a liar and try ta trip you up on your testimony. Be sure, you can't back outta this once you formally identify them.'

'I'm sure, they have to go to jail right? Maybe get what's coming to them.'

O'Malley looked at Kevin for a good while, making sure he'd heard right and seeing that Kevin meant what he'd implied. 'You're not so dumb Kev, you sure read slow though, anyone ever test you for dyslexia, my daughter has it.'

Confused again Kevin asked 'What is that?' He didn't want to say what he thought the detective meant, some kind of disease that sounded dirty but he wouldn't have said about his daughter if he meant something like that.

'It's a kind of vision problem, you can see just fine but letters on a page sort of jump around...'

Amazed, Kevin said 'Yeah, I get that all the time... I thought I was just too stupid... nobody ever said that could happen!'

'Well it's a possibility, you should get yourself checked out, they can help people with dyslexia learn to read better.'

'Thanks, I will... hey maybe I could end up a brain like Daria!' They looked at each other for a moment and then both said 'Nah!' together and laughed, but only for a moment, thinking of Daria and her broken face made Kevin sad again almost immediately.

The room had filled up quite considerably, a lot of officers who should have gone home at 4 were finding reasons to hang around the detectives' area as well as a few who should have gone out on patrol. Lawndale was a quiet district with most of the crime taking place in boardrooms and bedrooms. A violent crime like tonight's was rare indeed so for reasons from professional curiosity to basic nosiness they wanted to be in on the kill. It wasn't very long before Sergeant Kendall came up from the front desk accompanied by a dapper looking man with an almost comical comb-over whom Kendall introduced as Captain Mowbray of the Prisoner Transport Division of the Maryland State Police. O'Malley shook hands with him and invited the newcomer to join him at his desk. Mowbray handed over a folder containing a lot of paperwork.

O'Malley asked 'What can you tell us about these boys, Cap?'

'Most of what we have comes from Jersey PD, our friends have a rap sheet as long as King Kong's arm, petty thuggery for the most part but both have done time for armed robbery, assault, rape and battery. John Patrick known as 'Shiv' Mulligan is a sick son of a bitch, very inventive when it comes to nasty little ways of hurting people, did ten years in New York State Pen for aggravated assault on a minor. He has a scar on his face he picked up in a brawl in prison, how he got his nickname.  
That other punk Charles Robert Penrose aka Rosy is known to be a handy man with a knife, NYPD have two outstanding warrants out for him, one of them a murder rap so you can expect an application to extradite him to be tried in their jurisdiction. We have him on a charge of pointing an albeit unloaded shotgun at a State Trooper but your attempted murder charge has more weight but you better make it stick, hopefully that won't become murder as well.' Mowbray looked up from his notes 'Need any more? Our boys haven't been partners too long and from what we saw they're not too happy with each other, don't know if that'll help at all.'

O'Malley looked at him shrewdly for a few moments, considering, then said 'No, that covers it I think. Wanna hang around til our uniforms bring them up and put them in holding?'

'Sure.'

O'Malley was tapping his fingers rapidly on his desk, something on his mind, sucking his lower lip. Then he shrugged and said to no one in particular 'Gotta be worth a try.'

'Harry! Get that video camera set up real quick, Mr. Thompson here's gonna record a statement for us, right here by my desk pointing this way.' Bemused, one of the detectives went to do as asked. Kevin hadn't a clue what was going on but he really didn't want to go over his story again tonight and started to say so to the older man. 'Relax Kevin' He said quietly. 'I have something else in mind, know what a "Hail Mary" is?'

'A prayer the Catholics say isn't it? Or do you mean a last minute all out play for a score to win a match?'

'Yeah, something like that. Here's what I want you to do. When they bring those two by here I want you to stand up and say "That's them, I recognize them", can you do that for me Kevin?'

Kevin kept his voice as low as the detective 'But I told you I only got a good look at one of them.'

'HE doesn't know that, I'm gonna play a dirty trick on them Kev, are ya with me on this?'

Kevin thought about it then said 'I'm in, just say "That's them, I recognize them" right?'

'Right, and keep your fingers crossed and your mouth shut about this little conversation, OK? Now sit here in front of the camera, I'm gonna ask you some questions we went over before, just for the look of the thing, you know?' Kevin nodded.

A few minutes later Kevin was giving an account of his football game and the party to camera when a group of uniformed police came in escorting two men in handcuffs. Kevin turned and looked at them, immediately recognizing the scar faced man who looked at him and glared, then Kevin looked at the taller man, another hard-bitten thug like the first but otherwise unremarkable. Nervously Kevin turned to O'Malley and said loudly 'That's them, I recognize them!'

The scar faced man started yelling abuse at Kevin, threatening him. Then he changed tack and shouted to the surrounding police 'It's not me you want! It's Rosy! He stuck her, just coz she kicked him, I didn't hurt her...'

'Shaddap! You ASSHOLE! We coulda just done the job but you hadda have pussy, YOU ****head!' They continued roaring abuse at each other as they were dragged down the corridor to separate cells.

O'Malley looked like the alley cat who'd gotten into the cream. He stopped the camera, rewound it for a few seconds, then watched the playback, a big grin on his face. Looking smug he turned to the room and said 'We got 'em, they fingered each other on camera and in front of witnesses, I'd like to see some weasely lawyer get 'em outta that pickle jar!'

The room erupted with a few cheers and high fives and Mowbray stood up to shake O'Malley's hand. Kevin was grinning too though he wasn't exactly sure why they were celebrating. Then over O'Malley's shoulder he saw something that killed his grin stone dead. Leaning in to the detective he said 'Excuse me sir, but it's her, her Mom I mean, Mrs. Morgendorffer, by the stairs...'


	4. Chapter 4

**PART 4**

'O'Malley's face fell and he winced, quietly he said '****! ****! ****!' Then louder he said 'Cool it, you guys, no time for celebrating, cool it, we have a visitor.' The cops around the room saw the haggard looking woman in the rumpled red skirt suit and immediately found something really important to do, preferably in another part of the station. Captain Mowbray said 'I'd better get my guys and head back to Baltimore, I'll call you to get a report on how the case is going.' O'Malley walked him to the stairs and as he came up to the woman Mowbray said 'I'm sorry for what happened to your daughter, Ma'm, I'm just glad we were able to catch 'em.' Helen acknowledged him with a tight nod before turning to O'Malley. 'Chip' she said.

'Helen' he answered. 'Look Helen, I'm sorry we were celebrating just then but in this game a win is a win and we take the breaks when they come. We meant no disrespect to you or your daughter, you know that, right?'

Helen sighed. 'Yes Chip, I know... it's just...' She stopped for a moment. 'You got them, you're sure it's them?' Chip nodded then he said 'We were lucky the camera was rolling when they went off on each other, with all these witnesses it counts as a confession and no one can say we forced them to say anything.'

'I saw what you did... at least the Mother saw what you did and thanks you, the Officer of the Court saw nothing. Can we talk, maybe somewhere... less public? Bring Mr. Thompson, I'd like to thank him.' O'Malley waved Kevin over and led them toward the lounge. Kevin noticed Helen's other daughter, Quinn, had been standing a few steps down the stairs listening, but she came on up and followed her Mom.

Kevin asked 'How is she? How's Daria?'

'Still in surgery, they'll page me if there's any news. Chip... I overheard one of your people at the hospital on the radio talking about how they had made an arrest and were bringing the suspects here. I had to come, it was better than wearing a hole in the carpet in the hospital waiting room...  
I also had to take away a certain someone who was making a disgrace of herself' she added, with a hard look at Quinn who folded her arms tightly around herself and turned her back.

'Wow, that's a long time to be in surgery.'

'Yes Chip, I know, apparently that... he cut through her intestine and into her spleen, her abdomen was just a bag of blood when they brought her to the ER.'

'Damn' Chip said softly, then 'What can I do for you here?'

'I need to see them, I need to see their faces.'

'No way Helen, you know there's no way I'm gonna let you in a room with them, besides it's against protocol and could compromise the case, you KNOW that.'

'I don't need to be in the room with them I just NEED to see their faces. Please Chip, for old time's sake if nothing else, don't make me start waking people up and calling in favors.'

O'Malley sighed and after a few moments said 'I'll put them in separate interrogation rooms. You can look at them through the one-way glass, you're not getting in the room with them and a female officer's gonna have to frisk you beforehand, will you agree to that?'

'Yes Chip, and thank you.'

'Sure. How's your husband taking it? I suppose he's keeping vigil at the hospital?'

Helen's lips trembled as she answered 'He... they let us see her for a moment when they brought her up from the ER to the operating theater... her face... Jake collapsed... Doctor Philips said it was a mild heart attack... he had one before but I think it... just broke his heart to see his little girl...' Tears were streaming down Helen's face now as she fought to maintain her iron facade and she was shaking. O'Malley took pity on her and started out of the lounge.

'Gimme ten minutes, I'll come back to you, stay here, please?' She nodded assent.

'Gawd, Mom, why'd you drag me here? I should be at the hospital...'

In a very low voice Helen answered 'You know why, you made me ashamed of you the way you went off at poor Jane like that, she didn't deserve to have you yelling at her in the state she was in. Trent looked like he was about to thump you and I wouldn't have blamed him.'

Kevin stayed back and kept quiet. He saw how Mrs. Morgendorffer's face was chalky white with two ugly red blotches on her cheekbones, she looked at least ten years older than when he'd last seen her and she looked frighteningly angry and only barely in control. Quinn continued to whine.

'But it was her fault! If she hadn't been such a ho and gone off with some guy and left Daria walking home on her own...'

Suddenly Helen had her face an inch away from Quinn's. Through clenched teeth she said 'Listen to me, you little twit. Jane just did what you've done a hundred times, I was the one who had to go and fetch that weeping willow Stacy when you dumped her at the Feldmans and her Mom was out of town, YOU were supposed to bring her home. Did you forget that? Now IF Daria survives she's going to need Jane more than ever.'

'What do you mean? Of course she's going to be all right... isn't she... Mom? Daria can't die...'

'Doctor Philips told me they lost her twice, once in the ambulance and once in the ER. The second time they only barely got her heart going again. Of course she can die. Weren't you listening in the hospital? She only has a thirty percent chance of surviving the surgery. Then there's a very high risk of infection, both from the stab wound and from the...' she swallowed a couple of times before she could say the word 'rape.'

'Then if she survives all that she lost so much blood that there's a high risk of organ damage, particularly to the heart... and her brain.' She stopped again and suppressed a sob. After a full minute she continued in an even more deadly voice 'So IF she lives, and that's a very big IF, she will need her friend. She will need her friend more than she needs me, her Mother, God help me, and certainly more than she needs her 'cousin', do you understand me, Quinn?'

Quinn nodded, her hands clamped to her mouth. Helen went on 'Did you think I didn't know? Did you think I was deaf when your snotty little friends were bad-mouthing her in her own home? Do you doubt that I know where that attitude started? You've been denying she was your sister since you were ten! Well let me tell you what you're going to do, no matter what happens you are going to find Jane and you are going to get on your pretty little knees and beg her to forgive you and swear to her that you will do your utmost to make it up to your sister and believe me Missy, you had better pray that all those times you wished you were an only child don't come true because God might forgive you but I WON'T.' Helen stalked out of the room. Quinn stood for a moment in shocked silence then, like a puppet who's strings had been cut she collapsed to the floor and started to weep like a lost soul.

Kevin realized he was breathing heavily and shivering after this exchange between mother and daughter. Once again he had no idea what to do. He cast about him looking for inspiration and then spotted a woolen blanket folded up on the back of the couch. He fetched it and wrapped Quinn in it, picking up her slight form easily and carrying her to the couch where he laid her down gently.

He was standing there scratching his head when a voice behind him said 'Kevin!'

He jumped with fright at this voice, trembling he turned and said 'Ms. Li?'

The Principal was well turned out in her usual gray business suit but looked as if she hadn't slept. Kevin knew that feeling, this night seemed to have gone on forever and he wanted his bed.

'Kevin I was listening in on my police scanner and heard most of what happened tonight, Detective Sergeant O'Malley and I have known each other for a long time but he only gave me some bare facts, and it's one of my students!' She added indignantly. 'He did tell me that you're quite the hero and saved Ms. Morgendorffer's life! Tell me all! I must know!'

'Ehh, Ms. Li... maybe we shouldn't...' Kevin indicated the sobbing red haired girl on the couch.

Much quieter Ms. Li asked 'Is that Quinn, the poor thing, she must be very upset. Have you heard how Daria is?' As best he could Kevin recounted what Mrs. Morgendorffer had said. Ms. Li listened attentively, asking for clarification occasionally, Kevin did his best to answer but he hadn't understood everything he'd heard. He noticed Ms. Li was close to tears when he mentioned the possibility of brain damage. 'Is it true you fought those men off?'

'Oh no Ms. Li, I woulda fought but cops came along Dega Street and they thought I called them coz I said I did and they ran off.'

'You were going to fight them on your own? That's wonderful Kevin, you bring honor to the school on the field and off it! We must have a special assembly... maybe an award is in order...'

'Ms. LI!' Kevin interrupted her babbling. 'You can't celebrate after what happened to Daria!'

Li looked at him as if she'd been struck. 'Oh my God, Kevin. What was I thinking? Of course you're right. I just feel so useless, I HAVE to do something... I mean she's my best student and she's such an independent thinker... such a great mind... what if we lose her, Kevin? I've never lost a student... not in nine years as principal... well except through illness and one car accident but not in the school. I have the best safety record of any public school in the State... in the Country almost... I try and I try to keep them all safe and they fight me at every turn and I just don't want to lose anyone...'

She was openly weeping now. Kevin was stupefied, he would not have believed it could happen, everyone thought Ms. Li was like a Terminator... or... or... Hitler or somebody... but here she was as human as anyone... and he STILL didn't know what to do. He tore some paper towels from a dispenser by the sink and offered them to her, she accepted gratefully and dabbed at her eyes then blew her nose with a noise like a fart. He bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling.

From outside the door he heard Helen and O'Malley talking as they came back.

'...still taking a hell of a risk, Chip, why take a chance like that?'

'I'll be honest with you Helen, we have Mulligan for the rape charge three ways from Sunday, between DNA and Kevin's testimony we're gonna send him away til he's old enough for a pension if we get the right judge. The problem is Penrose. We know he was the one who stabbed your daughter but we don't have the knife, it's in a ditch or something along the road from here to the Susquehanna River. His clothes are clean according to the arrest report and where your daughter kicked him she didn't break skin so we can't even pull his DNA off of her boots.  
You've met Kevin, he's a good kid but put him on the witness stand and any half-assed trial lawyer's gonna talk rings around him and make him look like a retard, maybe even have him declared incompetent.' Kevin flushed red at this comment and hung his head in shame, Ms. Li took his hand in both of hers and squeezed it reassuringly. O'Malley was still talking 'With what we had Penrose walks, the most we could have done is hand him over to NYPD for their murder charge and even that's a crapshoot, he could walk there too. These guys are shrimp but they have connections, if our case isn't bulletproof they'll throw a heavy hitter in to defend them and then you're gonna have them calling your daughter a hooker who was into rough sex... Now at least they'll write them off and we can get a conviction in Maryland and AFTER that term we release Penrose to New York. I think it was worth the risk in those circumstances, don't you?'

'When you put it like that I have to say you did the right thing... though if Daria doesn't make it they're not walking anywhere those pieces of bastarding ****!'

'Now Helen, don't go talking like that, especially in here.'

'Don't try and tell a Mother what she can or cannot do if someone hurts her child!' She answered fiercely.

'As a Father I hear you... I don't approve but I understand... as an Officer of the Law I heard nothing.'

'Thanks Chip, for everything... I...' She was interrupted by a beep, beep, beep. 'That's my pager... it's the hospital... damn Eric I have a mobile phone but I can only use it to phone work...'

'Use my phone... and Helen... they're paging you, not me, that's good, right?'

Ms. Li opened the door of the lounge but didn't go out, instead she stood inside the doorway as she watched Helen go to Chip's desk and pick up the phone. Kevin stood behind her where he could see and was surprised when Ms. Li took a packet of cigarettes out of her bag and lit one. He moved back a pace to avoid the smoke, waving it away from his face. She whispered 'Sorry Kevin, but I need to steady my nerves, this could be good news... or very bad.'

The entire room was silent as Helen made her call, she identified herself, waited while she was put through to the right person and then said 'Hello Doctor Philips, what can you tell me?'  
For a few minutes she just listened, making occasional hmn hmn noises to show she was listening, then she seemed to slump down in her seat and very quietly said 'Thank you Doctor' and hung up.

She turned to the room, realizing everyone was waiting for her to speak so she raised her voice and said 'She's alive... she's out of surgery and resting, she's still at high risk but out of immediate danger... she'll be in the Intensive Care Unit for... actually I don't know for how long but they wheeled her next to her Father and she was able to squeeze his hand... so there's hope... Thank you all... for your concern and your hard work... thank you.' The people in the room, being human and not knowing what else to do, gave her a polite round of applause. Kevin realized he'd been holding his breath while she spoke and let it out in a rush. He became aware that Quinn had roused herself and was standing at his shoulder, still sniffling but looking a lot happier. He was surprised at how many freckles she had, she musta kept them covered up with make-up, he thought they were kinda cute but it did make her look much younger, almost like a little kid. Helen came toward them.

'Angela! What are you doing here?'

'Helen... I had to come... I didn't want to bother you at the hospital... I thought Detective Sergeant O'Malley could tell me what happened, I didn't know you'd be here too. At least the news is good... I'm so glad Helen... I mean, of course I'm not glad she was attacked...'

'It's ok Angela, I know what you meant, I appreciate your concern... ehhm.. could I have one of those?'

'Of course, I didn't know you smoked.'

'I don't. I quit eighteen years ago when I decided to try and get pregnant... Quinn! What...?'

'I don't smoke either Mom.' Quinn answered as she took a cigarette and expertly lit it and blew out a cloud of smoke, clasping her elbow with her free hand.

Helen ignored this, for the moment, and said to Li 'You didn't have to go to so much trouble Angela, I mean, for a student...'

'No Helen, you're wrong. I DID have to come and it was no trouble... you see I don't have any children and, at the same time, I have thousands of them...'

'Mister Chips?' Helen asked, with a wan smile.

'My favorite book, one of the reasons I became a teacher... like him I love them all.'

A book? Kevin knew they weren't discussing a brand of potato chips but why would someone name a book after a snack? He was glad he was not a brain. That reminded him though. 'Eh... excuse me Ms. Li?'

'Yes Kevin.'

'The detective... Mr. O'Malley? He was talking to me earlier and he said he thought maybe I have the disslec... disslex...?'

'Dyslexia? I'm sure you have been tested for that, Kevin.'

Kevin was shaking his head 'No Ma'am, I never did a reading test like he said and he said his daughter has it but she can read good now.'

'Manson! Dammit! Kevin, you make sure to come to my office first thing Monday morning and we'll do the assessment again, OK?'

'Yes Ma'am, I will.'

Helen came over to him, stubbing out her cigarette on the way. 'Kevin, I never got around to thanking you for what you did, you saved her life, you know that don't you? You have a right to be proud.'

'Thanks Mrs. M. But I just wish I coulda gotten there sooner... maybe saved her from everything, you know?'

'I know.'

Just then O'Malley came over to them with the uniformed officer Kevin had seen earlier with Kendall. 'Kevin' he said 'Officer Cooper here's gonna bring you to your house on his way home OK?  
Helen, I'll drive you and your daughter back to the hospital now myself, ready to go? Angela, why don't you go on home, you have your own car here don't you?'

'Yes I do but I just want a word with Helen before she leaves, a couple of minutes, tops.'

Kevin went to leave with the officers when he found himself being grabbed in a tight hug by Helen who kissed his cheek and whispered 'Thank you' in his ear. As she let go Quinn grabbed him and kissed his other cheek, then released him and said quietly 'See you Monday.'

Kevin walked with Cooper and O'Malley through the squad room towards the stairs. Halfway along O'Malley stopped and leaned in to talk quietly to a detective. 'Make sure Li leaves the building, Harry. I don't trust her, she's a security freak and I wouldn't put it past her to do a Jack Ruby on our guests of honor.'

Kevin wondered who Jack Ruby was, must be on some show he didn't watch, sounded like a cool name for a detective though. At the stairs O'Malley stopped him and offered his hand. 'Thanks again for everything Kevin, you did real good tonight, start to finish. You gonna bring home the State Championship to Lawndale?'

'Sure am sir, sure am.'

'Well, I'll be there cheering a real goddam hero, son, that's you.'

'Thanks sir... could I ask...?'

'Whaddya need?'

'Could you give me a call or leave a message at my house if there's any news of Daria? I don't wanna bother Mrs. M. and the hospital aren't gonna tell me anything.'

'I'll do that for you son, you have my promise, I'll be wanting to know myself. I'd like to meet that girl someday, she sounds like a good kid too. G'night Kevin... or I should say Good Morning... anyhow, goodbye.'

As they drove away from the station Kevin noticed it was almost eight a.m. He'd been awake pretty much all night and he was bushed but he felt he had to talk to somebody, somebody who'd listen to him. She was sick but she was always up early anyway, doing her yoga and stuff. He asked the officer, who'd let him sit in the front again and told Kevin to call him Scoop, if they could go by Crewe Neck instead and he said sure, it was on the way.

The security guard knew both the officer and Kevin so he waved them on through. Kevin felt a bit shaky and spacy as he walked up to Brittany Taylor's door, the world felt weird. He rang the doorbell and waited. After a minute it was opened by Brittany's bratty little brother who didn't speak to Kevin just turned into the house and yelled 'Brittany! It's Captain Moron!' Kevin wished someday he could practice spear tackles on the little **** but he kept his temper as he waited.

Brittany came down the stairs in her yoga clothes. Damn she looked good in yoga pants! She looked good in most anything but yoga pants... even with her face all puffy and her nose all red she looked beautiful. 'Kevvie! What are you doing here, do you know what time it is? I hope you're not expecting anything, I'm still sick you know, mister!'

'Hey Britt, you look good, I need to talk to you.'

Brittany had seen the patrol car drive away from her bedroom window. 'Did you get busted again? What did you do? Are you in trouble?'

'No Britt, I'm not in trouble... but something happened... I need to talk to you.'

'If you're gonna confess to going out with Angie again then you can...'

'Please Brittany... please.'

She looked at him, then looked closer as he kept his gaze steady on her face. Her eyes skipped from one of his eyes to the other and back. 'Kevvie...? What...? You'd better come in, I'll give you some breakfast, tell me what happened.'

She pulled the door open wide to let him in. 'After the party I was on my own downtown and I felt like a burger or something so I was walking down Dega Street...' he began as she shut the door. The door closed with a loud clunk just as the early morning sun broke through the clouds and glinted gold off the brass fittings.  
It was the start of a brand new day.

THE END


End file.
